NYC's not so affordable housing

[kangofu]

When ‘Affordable’ Is Just a Word
Source - NYTimes
By GINIA BELLAFANTE
Published: April 12, 2013The spring has the real-estate press enthusiastically reporting on the construction of 432 Park Avenue, an apartment tower that its developers claim will be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. Apartments in the tower, designed by

Comments

[layweed]

Pretty much echoing what I already knew about living in the NYC area. I would really want to live there some day but I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that it'll ever be "affordable" or even comfortable, especially given the ridonkulous rental prices that I've seen when I browse Craigslist. I'm guessing you either have to buy a house (if you can get one "cheap") or get a roommate or something. Or rent control, Idk.

ETA: also, what the heck is up with the comment/layout on ontd_p? some posts it's the old (new) fashion layout and then on other posts it's the new one with the expand on every thread and what not. Idgi.

[mollywobbles867]

Is the comments on your journal set as the LJ default style? I think LJ is making it look like yours. Mine's doing it too, but only on _p. Maybe it's just the comm?

[palebluedot09]

i think it's just the community. it is doing it for me too and no where else on livejournal

[shoujokakumei]

Most folks I know here either split the rent with a significant other or a roommate. The costs of living alone are brutal. The only time I ever lived alone here was when I scored an illegal basement apartment with all utilities included for $550/mo - the toilet spit up sewage on a regular basis and the heat only worked sporadically. I stayed there for over a year. :x

I think my current building is technically rent-controlled, there's a clause about it in the lease, but our rent's still $1600/mo for a 2-bedroom.

[yeats]

no more than 30 percent of your income on rent, the threshold usually used to define affordable housing
literally no one i know in nyc pays 30% of their income on rent. no one. (then again, ppl in new york who rent rarely have a car, which i have heard is a big explense.)

[romp]

I'd like to know where that 30% is true. Professionals live like that, I guess, and some hippies but few people I know. We're *just* reached that but I don't know if I can sustain it long and it's the first time in 20 years we haven't been paying half or more.

Anecdotal but I've long wondered if that 30% figure is realistic for many.

[checkerdandy]

Idaho. We're paying less than 30% but both my husband and I are trying to aggressively pay down our student loan debt. We live in a crappy neighborhood, and the house isn't the best, but we have a big backyard with room for chickens and raised garden beds.

I guess I count as "professional" though. Was never really clear on what that meant.

[romp]

need a degree for the job? IDK I may be but I think of drs and lawyers when I hear the term

My family lives in a cheap/poor area of California and I've noticed that once you move to such a place, it's hard to move out. Which is fine, just something to figure in. Thanks for reminding me that it's not all coastline. :)

[romp]

Portland, Oregon, at least used to have a deal in which a developer had to make a certain % of its places affordable. Really affordable, not just comparably. I recall that when the Pearl District was created (now galleries and trendy shops, was industrial), one developer tried to get out of the deal because they had all these expensive condos and then they were supposed to let in single mothers(!).

Which isn't to say housing is easy to find in Portland but I liked the idea of making posh and poor rub elbows rather than having a ghetto created elsewhere. And developers will make affordable housing if it's a hoop they have to jump through in order to create million-dollar places.

[yeats]

new york has programs like that, but as the article said, they're tied to tax breaks that expire -- eventually, the government stops subsidizing the building's owner and the rents go back to market rate.

[romp]

I certainly might be wrong but I didn't think they were subsidized--I thought they were just really wee and simple. I know just being in NYC must add a huge amount to a rent, like being in SF rather than in the 'burbs.

[roseofjuly]

I don't know about Portland, but here in NYC the developers are only required to have affordable units for a certain amount of time, like 10 years or something. At that point, the developer can do whatever they want, and typically it goes back to market rate.

Also, those affordable units are so freaking hard to get. A friend of mine has one - a really sweet, brand new studio for like $800/month in a nice part of west Harlem - but she knew the woman managing the process or something and so she was able to be one of the first people on the list.. You have to have like prescient clairvoyance to be on the list the minute it goes out.

[shoujokakumei]

You Don’t Need to Live in a $50 Million Penthouse Tax

a-fucking-men, let's enact this shit already.

[psychesky]

Hahahahaha, ahhhhh hahahaha. I do not want to even hear about this shit right now. My boyfriend just left me which means the room we were splitting is now all my problem and my rent is nearly ALL of my income. Thank god I have a friend who needs occasional housing in the city and is willing to live in my room with me when she is in town for a portion of the rent or I'd be done. And I work in a professional graduate degree requiring job for 30 hours a week. I love this city and I love my job but I certainly won't be able to stay here for more than a few years unless I get a substantial raise, give up the place I worked so hard on and move into an unsafe neighborhood, or get two more part time jobs and forget about sleep or my art that I do on the side.

On another note, the other bedroom in this place is opening up if any _P people need a room in Brooklyn.